Team building activities are great when they set outdoor tasks to challenge individuals to work together outside their comfort zones. But this is not always the case in winter! When the weather outside takes a turn for the worst, it can be pretty hard to convince people that a teambuilding hike in the mountains is a good idea. To be honest, who can blame them? But this negative attitude means people often postpone or cancel team building activities until the warmer months.

Does that matter?

Essentially, yes. These kinds of activities are vital to maintaining harmony in the workplace. It’s not just at work either. Team activities are beneficial to sports clubs, school classes and pretty much anywhere where people are striving to achieve a common goal.

How do these kinds of activities help?

Studies show that team building exercises can help groups to align their goals, build effective working relationships and find solutions to ongoing problems. They are of particular value when a company, team or group are undergoing a lot of change, but are also a great way of maintaining and strengthening working relationships to make sure the team feels like a group that is aligned and motivated to achieve their best.

If outdoor activities are a no go, what are the other options?

Team building is all about challenging your group and creating an activity that requires them to work together, so don’t go for anything solo like bowling. Although this involves teams, it really comes down to individual successes. Opt instead for something that requires more communication. Simple team sports can work well, such as indoor rounders or cricket, which provide plenty of communication, fun and exercise. Some people beleive that corporations should take greater responsibilty for the health of thier empoyees, and regular team buiolding could be one way to achieve this.

If you want to test a groups’ knowledge, then why not create your own quiz night? Try not to have the questions too focuses on whatever has brought you all together – be that work or a particular sport – because that would be a little too easy!

This is ideal for colleagues, especially for mixing up disciplines and getting people to socialise outside of the colleagues they usually work with. You can set one up around the office. Use clues that have to be solved by everyone and try to mix up the teams too, so that you get a variety of skill sets in each one.

If your team is more active, then laser tag is a real winner. Be aware that this might bring out the competitive side in some people – although maybe that’s the outcome you’re hoping to achieve!

Does this sound a bit too difficult to organise alone?

Third party providers are a great solution if you’re struggling for ideas and time. They can organise much bigger events that are tried and tested, so you know they’ll be a success. You can get artistic and book in for a graffiti session, where the goal is to draw the company logo or the team crest, or reenact The Apprentice, with everyone having to come up with a totally unique business idea and pitch it to the board room.

Having a third party involved also takes the stress out of trying to create an event that suits everyone. Not every person wants to spend their time running around firing lasers at their teammates, but with events such as the Get In The Zone option, provided by Zing, you get over 120 challenges to choose from, meaning everyone can find something they’re good at and end the day feeling motivated, energised and part of a winning team.

Author bio:

Charlie Berry is the Event Director for London based Zing Indoor Teambuilding Events, a corporate event company that delivers innovative and creative team building activities.